vegetarian living

I just stumbled upon www.groovyvegetarian.com. It is a great blog that offers all kinds of information about all things vegetarian. I snooped around her past posts and found some really interesting stuff.

I live in Taiwan right now, and eating raw vegetables really isn't an option. Organic vegetables are pretty much unavailable in my town, and they spray the hell out of all vegetables here.
My solution is to grow wheatgrass on my balcony. It is really easy to do, only takes a couple of minutes a day, and lets me ingest healthy, raw nutrients that I know are pesticide-free because I grew it myself. Try it yourself! And try sprouting too. If you are interested in learning how to grow wheatgrass at home, you can find everything you need to know there. It is best to get yourself a wheatgrass juicer if you are going to be drinking wheatgrass juice on a regular basis. Many people start out with a manual juicer and then move on to an electric wheatgrass juicer when they really decide to drink wheatgrass every day or sometimes twice a day.
A great way to add a few extra servings of green leafy vegetables into your daily diet is to drink them. There are juice bars everywhere that will blend up a nice, healthy mix of fruits and leafy vegetables. I give them my sigg thermos to pour it into and take it with me to sip on at work.

Sometimes it can be really, really difficult to find vegetarian food when you are traveling, especially in places where vegetarians are few and far between. I live in Taiwan, and while it is true that most restaurants say they can cook something for me, nearly every time it turns out to be fried white rice with a few frozen vegetables tossed in. While edible, it isn't exactly the most exciting or nutritious thing to eat. Luckily, there is a great internet guide to vegetarian restaurants around the world. Just go to www.happycow.net and you will be able to find a vegetarian restaurant or health food store pretty much anywhere you want to go. If you go somewhere without a listing, good luck and if you find a good veggie restaurant, add it and help everyone else out!

I have a friend who wanted to go traveling around the United States but couldn't afford not to work. He came up with a great idea, which was to look for mobile kitchens for sale where he lived in Los Angeles, buy one for a few thousand dollars, and tour around the country selling vegan snacks and goodies wherever he went. If you think about it, it is actually quite easy to do. Even if you don't know how to cook, you can make things like vegan burgers and vegan hot dogs, and sell healthy drinks like kombucha tea. People spend lots of money on that stuff, and it can be a very lucrative way to both travel the country and stay afloat financially.

In order to show just how much of an impact each vegetarian has on the environment, here are some things to think about the next time you pick up your fork:

"Area of tropical rainforest destroyed for the production of each fast-food hamburger made from rainforest beef: 55 square feet." (Denslow, Julie, and Padoch, Christine, People of the Tropical Rainforest, University of California Press, 1988, pg 169)

"Life forms destroyed in the production of each fast-food hamburger made from rainforest beef: Members of 20 to 30 different plant species,100 different insect spcies, and dozens of bird, mammal and reptile species." (Denslow, Julie, and Padoch, Christine, People of the Tropical Rainforest, University of California Press, 1988, pg 169)

As a vegetarian, you can smile and feel proud each time you lift your fork.

Unfortunately, I often get put in the uncomortable position of having someone tell me that humans need to eat meat. Usually these kinds of conversations arise while dining with a group of people of which I am the only vegetarian. I never initiate the meat-eating debate, but somebody else invariably does as soon as they find out I am vegetarian. It is sometimes tough to defend against constant bombardment from stubborn people, so I have a list of common remarks and polite responses to them.

1) "We have big sharp teeth for eating meat." Actually, our teeth are more for chewing vegetables. They are much closer to horse and cow teeth than tiger or dog teeth.

2) "Humans are at the top of the food chain, so we need to keep it that way by eating meat"
Yes, humans are at the top of the food chain, and yes, we can eat meat. But we are also blessed with a great ability to reason. Just because we can eat meat doesn't mean we should. Out of every species on earth, only humans have the power to destroy the earth for everyone, but we also have the power to save it. In my opinion, humans have a duty to protect the creatures that are less able to defend themselves.

3) But don't you miss eating meat? What else is there to eat except lettuce?
This is an easy question to answer, since meat itself doesn't have much taste. Most of the taste comes from the various sauces used. Many vegetarians eat a wide array of food from all kinds of cultures, which definately isn't as boring as a meat-and-potatos diet.

And last but not least, you can say "I shouldn't have to explain and defend why I don't eat animals. Why don't you tell us why you think it is right to contribute to the torture and killing of animals for food when it isn't necessary?"
The best way to show others the wisdom of being a vegetarian is to be a living example of good health and compassion. It definately helps to be well informed. Take a look at these sights for wisdom from enlightened individuals:
http://www.HappyCow.net Words Of Wisdom
http://www.savvyvegetarian.com

If anybody has any more suggestions, please add them below! Thanks

Some vegetarians often feel alienated and ridiculed by their friends because of their diet. I Occasionally even get remarks like "only the upper class can afford to be a vegetarian. Poor people simply can't afford it." Sometimes it seems difficult to defend yourself with the facts, even though you are sure you are right. So here are just a few of the many famous vegetarians from history, from all backgrounds.

Bob Dylan, Buddha, Charles Darwin, George Bernard Shaw, Jesus Christ, Johnny Cash, Franz Kafka, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nelly, Pythagoras, Socrates, and Vincent van Gogh.
For a list of hundreds more from all walks of life, check out this list of famous vegetarians.
As for the myth of rich vegetarians, just remember that 1/2 of India is vegetarian! That settles the debate right there. As you can see, some of the brightest and most helpful people from the past to the present didn't eat meat. I don't think it is a coincidence that the vegetarians tend to often contribute helpful things to society.